Red Herring
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, days 568-574  Castle Crossover : New Directions is in New York for Nationals, when a murder brings in Det. Beckett and Richard Castle themselves.
1. Cardinal Rule

_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 27th cycle. Now cycle 28!_

_**RED HERRING - A Glee/Castle Crossover** - This week-long story is dedicated to a couple of BAMFs who shall remain nameless (for reasons to be made obvious later) until the day of the final chapter, next Wednesday, which so happens to be both their birthdays ;)_

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><p><strong>"Red Herring"<br>1. Cardinal Rule  
>Will, New Directions; Castle cast <strong>

Anyone seeing their bus on the road would have no idea how much was riding on this trip. Six boys, seven girls, one teacher and an accompanist were on their way to compete against other clubs at Nationals. That was already something to be anxious for, knowing how they had come so close the previous year when their journey was cut short at a disappointing Regionals. They had scores to settle, going against the ones who had beat them back then, Vocal Adrenaline. But that wasn't about to tarnish the fact that McKinley High's New Directions had left Lima, Ohio, bound for New York City.

Inside that bus, the excitement was palpable. Some would fall asleep from time to time, but it was hard to stay that way very long when everyone else was singing loudly and without reserve. Eventually they would be quiet, as it was suggested they should preserve their voices; Rachel was already on that, sitting quietly and staring. She finally spoke up though, the moment they crossed the New York City limits.

They arrived at their hotel and a girl showed them to their rooms. They would have plenty of time to settle in, see the city for the morning, as they wouldn't get their rehearsal time until after lunch. If they didn't want Rachel to lose it, they'd be by that door well on time. As the minutes ticked by, there were three of them still missing, and just before hell could break loose, they were rushed over, in costume and all, by the girl who had first shown them up to their rooms. She worked for the competition organization, they imagined.

"Where were you?" Rachel asked Tina, Brittany, and Puck.

"We got lost… in the gift shop," Brittany revealed, and this explained the bags she was lugging around… and the blush of giddiness on her cheeks.

The bags were put aside so that New Directions could take to the stage, dressed all in red and black. They had managed to get to this point without too much drama, and so they ran through one number, then the next. There was some arguing on that second, but none more than on the third, which dissolved the practice within minutes. The club scattered, hoping somehow to cool off by their next allotted rehearsal time. They had no idea rehearsal was about to get cancelled.

It didn't matter where they were in the hotel. By the time word started getting out, people started hovering toward the source of the madness. As much as hotel security tried to hold everyone back, it was hard to miss… she was hard to miss, trussed up with what looked like cables and all but presented as she'd fallen from the level above… Fallen, or more likely thrown. That may have been left to be determined, but the one thing that was for sure was that the girl was dead. Not many would recognize her right off the bat, not unless they happened to have met her, in her functions.

The competitors who'd bothered to pay attention to her, even if they didn't know her name, they still recognized her as 'that girl' who showed them around the hotel, to their rooms, to the auditorium… If it wasn't for her clothes, the badge around her neck, they might not have recognized her so quick, as her face had taken a beating on the landing. The fact that they could recognize her only made realizing her death that much more traumatizing.

When Will had made his own realization, his only thought was to gather up his kids, who he could easily see, dotted nearby in their red and black costumes. He did his best to cut through the onlookers, getting hold of them, one by one, sometimes two or three together, until he counted and had come to thirteen. He could see some of them were confused, others curious, some scared, or sad… No one could talk.

"It'll be alright," Will promised them.

"My first day here and someone gets killed. Now my parents will never let me come back," he heard Mike tell Tina, kept close in his arms.

"What the hell happened?" he heard Santana say, shaking her head. Will wished he knew what to tell her.

"Cops are here," Puck announced, and they all looked.

There were four of them, coming through the door together, but it was clear the woman was in charge. Tall, brunette, commanding, she directed two of the men off somewhere and they went, leaving only her and the third man, whose eyes went about instantly to the dead girl on the ground. Now it seemed the onlookers extended to the second floor above, and the woman directed security to start clearing them out. Will didn't have to hear the words to understand that, and he started ushering the club away, though as he did this he vaguely heard the woman address the man who had to be head of security.

"Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD," she flashed her badge before nodding behind herself. "And Richard Castle."

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	2. Crimson Tear

_A/N: On to chapter 2! Forgot to say yesterday, if any of you guys watch one show but not the other and you have questions, don't hesitate to contact me! :)_

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><p><strong>"Red Herring"<br>2. Crimson Tear**

The two of them stood by as they waited for the crowd to thin out, though they made sure to scan the faces that went by… one of them could be their killer. One thing did stand out, not necessarily as suspicious, just… peculiar.

"What's with all those kids?" Beckett could spot three 'patterns,' three groups, from their costumes. One group in black and white, another in red and black, and a third in silver and black.

"National Show Choir Competition," Castle saw the banner posted behind them, over the doors.

"Show choir?" she repeated. He opened his mouth to speak, but she turned back and, as she saw the space was clearing, she moved toward their victim. "I know what it means." So he shut his mouth and followed her. They were first on the scene, and it was the head of security who greeted them and briefed them on what they presently knew.

"The victim's name is Marie Bennett. There was a crash on the second floor and then the body came flying off from above to land right here," he pointed to the body.

"Crash?" Castle asked, looking back to the landing, where a room service cart could be seen, stuck in the rails at an angle that would indicate it had been rammed into the bars. His eyes followed the trajectory, landing on the body on the ground floor, retraced it a couple of times. "Crash," he agreed.

"Any witnesses?" Beckett asked, making the same journey with her eyes, seeing how their victim had come to land where she had.

"No one saw who… well, I guess you could say the cart was launched. But no one saw a thing," the guard explained. "Then the cameras…" he spoke just as Beckett's phone rang.

"That'll be them," she guessed as she answered and heard Esposito's voice.

"Security's been reviewing the tapes, but as far as they can tell whoever shoved that cart managed to stay hidden. They don't think this was the idea though, just a fortunate accident that no camera got a look," he told Beckett as both he and Ryan leaned in to look at the screens, which made the woman sitting at the station glare back at them, and they retreated enough to give her the space they were apparently depriving her of.

"Right, well confirm that?" she asked as she spied Lanie coming through the door. Beckett hung up as she was approaching.

"He's not touching my body is he?" Lanie asked, indicating the victim on the ground. Castle was crouched beside her, staring sideways at something. The women walked up and, without looking up…

"I think she works for the competition," he pointed and, hearing no words he looked up to find the two of them staring down at him. "Hands off, see?" he held out his hands, one side and the other. "Since you're the one with the gloves, by all means," he stepped back and let Lanie step in. She retrieved the badge and once it had been slipped into the evidence bag, she handed it to Beckett.

"Who's in charge of the competition?" she looked to the head of security.

"That would be Mr. Matheson," she pointed to the man who was sitting on a nearby chair, with a guard by his side and a paper bag in his hand. Every few seconds he would try and breathe in the bag, so deep they thought the bag might burst. While Lanie got to work examining the body, which would not lay flat, Beckett and Castle crossed the floor to speak with the hyperventilating man. Beckett barely had time to flash her badge before the man unloaded.

"This is my first year! My first year, oh they're going to fire me, I'm going to have to move back in with my mother. Well, of course, she'll say she knew it wouldn't last, I won't hear the end of it. Oh, what a disappointing son I was, abandoning her…" he shook his head and Castle motioned for him to blow in the bag again, which he did.

"Mr. Matheson…" Beckett tried, and the man removed the bag once again to conclude his outburst.

"I'm thirty-seven!" After a pause, making sure when she started to talk, she would get to go on, Beckett started again.

"Mr. Matheson, what can you tell us about Marie Bennett?" He looked up.

"M-Marie? That was her?" he asked, and Beckett showed him the badge. Suddenly it looked like a weight had been lifted from him. "I thought it was one of the kids, I… oh…" he let out a breath and sat back like he wasn't worried for his job anymore. It took a few more seconds for him to realize how it might have sounded like he didn't care now that he knew it was one of his employees, and he sat up. "It's absolutely terrible," he told them.

"What can you tell us about her?" Beckett brought him back to the subject.

"Right, sorry," he shook his head. "I, uh… She was in charge of looking after the different choirs, making sure they got to where they needed to be. She was a new hire too, there are a few of us," he explained, and now his face looked downright mischievous. "Big scandal last year," he revealed.

"How big a scandal?" Castle asked, his face almost matching the man's.

"Well, I only know what the official story is… and what the others said," he added after a beat. "My predecessor," he started, then paused abruptly, realizing. "Oh, I probably shouldn't say, or I might…"

"You know, it's not so bad, living with your mother," Castle told the man, casually.

"You haven't met mine," Matheson shook his head. "If you want to know the whole story, I can give you the names of the people who were fired. Do you think it's one of them?" he asked, back to conspiracy.

"It's worth looking into," was all Beckett would say before signalling for Castle to follow her back to Lanie's side. She had made some progress, though they'd yet to move the body. "Was she dead before she landed here?" Beckett asked.

"Fortunately for her, yes. I'll have to get her back to the morgue before I can give you a cause of death, but I did find something that might get you started," she reached for an evidence bag by her side and handed it to Beckett, who observed the content. "It was stuck in the cables," she indicated where the limbs were tied up.

"What is it?" Castle asked.

"Piece of fabric. Must have gotten caught in there when she was being tied up," she held out the bag to him and he looked at the fabric.

"Call me crazy, but didn't we just see a whole bunch of those kids in that same red material?" he asked. She looked back at him, and even if she said nothing, he could track exactly where her mind went in the next few seconds: first she remembered the choir with the red and black costumes, then she remembered how many of them there were, and then she realized they'd have to interrogate not just that group but all three of them, probably, along with any others who could have had something to do with this competition. He gave her a comprehending nod, just as Ryan and Esposito returned.

"Whoever tossed her got real lucky. They managed to get her out there without being seen or filmed at all," Ryan revealed, but then paused when they saw the looks on Beckett and Castle's faces.

"Well, boys, it's going to be a long one."

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	3. Rose Petals

_A/N: Not much to say, just you guys are awesome, thanks for the reviews! :D_

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><p><strong>"Red Herring"<br>3. Rose Petals**

Once they had gone upstairs, Will had kept his group gathered in the suite they were sharing. Part of it was that he figured they had to be traumatized about all this, seeing as the girl who died hadn't been a complete stranger to them, which couldn't be helping matters. But then the more pressing matter was that he didn't want them wandering around on their own right then. Not only were there cops going around, but with how the whole thing had happened he had to guess there was someone out there who'd gone and performed this killing… he wasn't going to put his kids in any more danger.

"What's going to happen now?" Rachel broke the silence, asking the question in a calm voice that told him she wasn't so much worried about winning or losing at the moment which, of all things, anchored the seriousness of the situation.

"I wish I knew," he shook his head. "They might want to talk to us, they… they might cancel or postpone Nationals. We're not packing up our bags just yet though, so let's… let's wait and see what happens."

"She was nice to us," Tina spoke up softly, smiling as she recalled. The others silently nodded in agreement. Heads rested on shoulders, hands were held… What else could they do?

Then came the knock at their door. A few of them jumped, startled, and a few of them sat up almost with determination to protect the others if danger was coming.

"Killers don't knock," Puck frowned, reminding them.

"They do if they want to lull you in a sense of false hope before they come in and cut you open," Rachel pointed out, wound up, which only got more whimpers out of a few of them.

"Let's not do that," Quinn sighed, though even she looked a little frazzled. But then Will returned, with an odd look on his face, which got thirteen faces turned to him.

"We've been asked to go down to the station for interrogation," he informed them. "Now you're all minors and your parents aren't here, but I'll be with you, I promise. The bus is pulling up out front, we should get going."

"Should we change?" Mike asked, looking around at all of them in their costumes.

"Actually they've asked that we keep them on," Will told him, which they now saw must have been why he had that look on his face as he re-entered the room. So they were off.

Down at the 12th precinct, everyone was attempting to get things done before their 'gleeful invasion.' It was impossible to manage all the clubs involved, on top of other possible persons of interest, all on their floor at the precinct. Their priority had been directed toward the club from McKinley High, from the piece of red fabric, but even then they couldn't restrict themselves. So the McKinley group would be brought in, along with key members of the competition's organization and their victim's family once they were located. The other two clubs would be fielded right at the hotel, a task which had fallen to Ryan and Esposito. They'd decided amongst themselves, Ryan would take one group, Esposito would take the other. Almost wishing each other good luck, they'd headed to their respective groups. But for Beckett and Castle the task was to gather what information they could on Marie Bennett.

What they got, courtesy of her employee file, and her mother and brother once they came down to see them, was this: Marie, aged twenty-nine, had just moved back home to New York after calling off her engagement to long-time boyfriend Phillip. The mother explained her daughter was truly heartbroken, and had it not been for all the rush of preparation for this competition, she might not have found her way back on her feet the way she had. 'A blessing,' her mother had called it, immediately breaking down as she remembered this blessing had only lead to her death. Beckett had turned to the brother to ask about the state of the break-up. He assured them it was completely understood between them. Phillip had been offered a job overseas and, as Marie wouldn't follow him, the outcome had been inevitable. The ex would soon be ruled out, as he was in Vienna as he had been for the last few weeks. Asked if they knew of any problems she may have had with anyone more local, or if she had begun dating again, they were given a no in both cases. They had no more than a vague picture of who this woman was when the elevator doors opened to deposit seven girls, six boys, a teacher and an accompanist.

"Listen, I'll take care of the girls, you get the boys," Beckett told Castle as they looked up to see them standing just outside the elevator. He looked back at her, either shocked or excited.

"Solo interrogations, really?" he asked. She looked back at him, and even before she spoke he knew that wasn't the case.

"Check their costumes for any tears or missing pieces," she clarified before moving off to greet the group. After a beat, Castle hurried his step to catch up with her. "If I can have everyone's attention, please?" she addressed the new arrivals. "I'm Detective Kate Beckett, and this is…"

"That's Richard Castle," Sam was the first to speak, though not the first to react.

"Wow, this trip just improved," Santana chuckled in amazement, but Rachel took the prize when she gasped and pointed at Beckett before whispering to the others.

"It's Nikki Heat!" Beckett waited a beat or two before talking, making sure to maintain herself courteous. She had to make sure not to look to Castle on her right or she would have failed. She scanned the faces and quickly identified…

"Will Schuester?" she asked, and he nodded, stepping forward. "We need to examine your kids' costumes, now I'll take care of the girls myself, and Mr. Castle will look after the boys. You and your accompanist are welcome to stand by the whole time."

"Right," he nodded, not made confident in any way by the fact that they had to take a look at all of them like this. "Brad, will you go with the girls?" he asked, and the man nodded.

"This way, please," Beckett led the seven girls and Brad to one room while Castle looked to Will and the boys, remembering after a moment that he was on his own.

"And, if you'll follow me," he spoke, taking them to another room. The way he saw it, his job was pretty straight forward. Checking six shirts would be easy; Beckett had skirts and ruffles to deal with. So within a couple of minutes he had already established that there was nothing missing from any of the boys' clothes. Now there they were, with nothing to do, and… Well, no point in wasting time. "So you spent any time with Miss Bennett?"

"She showed us to our suite when we first arrived," Kurt spoke up.

"She told us what the best things were to order off the room service menu," Mike added.

"She made sure we got to rehearsal on time," Finn pitched in.

"Especially if we got lost," Puck continued this.

"She liked my guitar," Sam recalled. "She could play, too."

"She was really looking forward to seeing us compete," Artie added in the end.

"Any of you saw her today?" Castle asked them.

"The last time I saw her was when she brought a few of them back from the gift shop, before our rehearsal," Will told him, and the boys nodded.

In the other room, just as Castle had predicted, her job was a bit more complicated. At the very least she could guess that the piece, if it came from one of them, would have been near the bottom or at least part of the dress itself, not the layers underneath. One by one the girls had to present themselves, turning as Beckett instructed while she checked for… nothing. None of their dresses were compromised in any way. She stepped back with a sigh.

"Right, so I'll just need to go and verify something and then…" she started, heading toward the door, but then she thought of something and she turned back to them. "Did you bring any back-up costumes?" The girls nodded. "And they're the same as these?" she asked, and again they nodded. "Excuse me." She stepped out of the room and took out her phone, dialling. "Hey, Ryan, I need you to check something." It was ten minutes before she got a call back.

"Hey, you were right. We found the one missing a piece. We also know who it belonged to."

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	4. Poppy Seeds

_A/N: Crossed the halfway point! :)_

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><p><strong>"Red Herring"<br>4. Poppy Seeds**

Beckett and Castle stood outside the room where the two halves of the club had been reunited and told to wait, watched them through the one-way mirror as they sat there. One of them was going to have to say it, and it ended up being Castle. "I realize after everything we've seen, working together, I might think differently, but… These kids look so… well, normal. And what was done to Marie Bennett…" She wasn't saying anything, but he could tell it was bugging her, too. But the evidence, what they had of it so far, was pointing the finger at them, at one in particular, and as much as their instincts told them something wasn't adding up, they had to look into it.

"We'll still need to interrogate them all. Ryan and Esposito will be back soon. There's thirteen kids, two adults, so Ryan and Esposito will each take five, we'll get the other five. Someone needs to be present for all the kids' interviews so we've got a couple of people from social services coming down."

Once everyone who needed to be there had arrived, the list had been drawn up and split; everyone had their assignments. The three detectives and Castle went to meet with the group and Beckett addressed them.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," she looked to her list. "Mercedes Jones, Quinn Fabray, Kurt Hummel, Finn Hudson, and Sam Evans, please follow Detective Esposito?" she asked, seeing the five kids look up when their names were called, absolutely confused. Their teacher, who had already been advised of social services being there to assist, looked to the five of them and told them everything would be alright. Slowly, they got up and followed the detective. Beckett turned back to her list. "Lauren Zizes, Will Schuester, Noah Puckerman, Brittany S. Pierce, and Santana Lopez, you're with us, the rest of you will be with Detective Ryan," she looked to Artie, Rachel, Mike, Tina, and Brad as the other five got up and followed her and Castle.

Once Ryan started his interrogations, it slowly became clear to him that as far as his share of the lot went, he wasn't going to get very far. As far as alibis went, they were cleared soon enough. The Abrams kid couldn't have subdued the girl or gotten her to where she'd ended up, not on his own. Miss Berry had gotten into an argument with one of the technicians about the lighting at the time of the murder, and at that same time, the other pair were caught by a security camera making out in one of the halls, while the piano man was having himself a quiet lunch in the hotel dining room. As far as information about the case, about their own interactions with the deceased, along with their teammates' interactions with her, there really wasn't much they didn't know already. She was nice, she helped them… The one possible piece of information that could have potential came on the end of his interview with Mr. Abrams, who remembered something, just as Ryan was about to dismiss him.

"This morning she came into the suite to get us and she had her phone in her hands," he started and, when Ryan asked him why that was important, he continued. "I can't explain it, but there was this look on her face. She tried to hide it, but something had her distracted. I think it might have been a call or something," he explained. Ryan could see on his face the same look he and the others would see on all these kids' faces, one that showed how troubled this whole experience had made them. Marie Bennett may have been a stranger to them not forty-eight hours earlier, but in the time she had been in their lives, she had already managed to make an impression enough that her passing would affect them in such a way. And all he knew was that it would be something Marie's family would deserve to know.

In Esposito's interrogations, the mood and the results were much the same. Jones and Hummel were off exploring the hotel, and were seen repeatedly on cameras. The same went for Fabray and Hudson, who had taken their own turn at visiting the gift shop. And then Evans had been in the auditorium still, with his guitar. He had also been present for his teammate Rachel's argument with the technician and had, according to him, stopped her from going diva bomb on him, which he had to assure Esposito was in no way as bad as he might have just made it sound. In the end, he at least got a couple more pieces of information out of them.

"A couple of the other girls didn't like her, said she took someone's job," Mercedes Jones told him. "But she was cool about it. I mean it wasn't her fault this other person had been fired, and she knew that. I think it still upset her though." And then there was Miss Fabray.

"There was something going on, I could see it. She had a secret… I know a thing or two about secrets," she had withdrawn for a moment. "Whatever it was, something was happening that had to do with it."

And then there was just one more group. The teacher sat in on his students' interrogations, so long as he didn't interfere. It was fairly straightforward even then. Miss Zizes only had to produce her camera to lock both hers and Mr. Puckerman's alibis, as they'd been going around, taking pictures… Or as he would later put it in his own interview, she had handed him her camera and made him take pictures of her as they went about the hotel, with a few exceptions where he was allowed to enter the frame. He was very forthcoming, laying out any and all information he had, all of them figuring it was simply who he was, unaware of a sudden fear that dishonesty could land him back in juvenile detention. Then Miss Lopez had her turn and, once Beckett had gotten her to focus on her instead of Castle, she didn't have much more to add, only that she had been making a strategic mini bar raid at the time, and had gone to try and locate Miss Pierce when she had gotten word something was happening in the lobby. Then it was the teacher's turn, and after establishing that he'd been in the suite, calling home to check on another teacher who hadn't made the trip, he didn't have so much to say. He hadn't been in contact with the victim as much as the kids.

"Thank you, Mr. Schuester," Beckett got up to shake his hand before opening the door and finding their last interviewee sitting there. Will got up and went to see her, expecting to lead her into the interrogation room. But then Beckett stopped him, signalling a woman to step forward. As she did, carrying a garment bag on her arm, Will saw she was one of the women from social services.

"I don't understand, what's…" he asked as Castle ushered Brittany into the room.

"I'm sorry, you'll have to wait out here," Beckett told him and he looked past her to the blonde now sitting in the chair where he'd been a moment ago, staring back at him, confused. She disappeared from his view when Beckett went in and shut the door.

"What's going on?" he turned at the sound of a voice, and even before seeing her he knew it was Santana's. He saw realization come over her as she saw him in the hall and not in the room with Brittany. "No. No way," she shook her head, looking around until she found… "Hey!" she called to the other two detectives, the ones who'd interrogated the rest of the club, stomping over to them. "Look I don't know what you think you've got, but let me tell you a thing or two on the girl you've got in there. There is not a mean bone in her body, and there's no way she would ever do whatever you think she's done," Santana declared, trying very hard to keep her wits about her so she wouldn't make things worse for any of them, least of all Brittany.

"Okay," Esposito made the decision as he listened to her, leading her to their board. He pointed to the picture of the fabric, posted there. "You tell me why it is we have a piece of her back-up dress, and we'll see what happens," he turned back to her. If she was so convinced, then who were they not to entertain her claim. It would either give them more information, or it would open her eyes to something else, which would again assist them. But the moment she saw it, he saw her face change… she knew it.

"She got stuck in a door this morning. I helped her get out, but then we heard a rip. She didn't want to tell anyone, so I just told her to change into her back-up and be real careful from now on."

"Where was this?" Ryan asked as he moved to his computer.

"The hall on the 3rd floor… around the corner from the vending machines," Santana told him, and he pulled up the security footage they'd been sent. As the images whizzed by, Santana came to stand at his shoulder, with Schuester and Esposito nearby. "There!" she pointed, and he stopped. "That's us." They watched, and it happened just as she'd said. She stood back, satisfied. "Now will you let her out?" she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Take a look at this," Ryan suddenly told them, rewinding. They looked, and they saw what he saw… a hand, reaching for and retrieving the torn piece, a few moments later. Still no face, but now they knew something else… Someone was trying to pass off blame on to the club from McKinley High.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	5. Brick Wall

_A/N: Almost the end!_

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><p><strong>"Red Herring"<br>5. Brick Wall**

"And sometimes we all get together and we have these murder mystery dinners… I always get killed…" the blonde was telling the pair of them, sitting across from her, when the door opened and Esposito peeked his head in. Rather than going into a long explanation, he shook his head with a signal: it wasn't her. Beckett looked to Castle, then over to the girl and the woman from social services.

"Excuse us for a minute," she told them before getting up. Castle followed once he realized she had indeed said 'us'.

"There's something you need to see," Esposito told them, leading them to Ryan's computer so they too could see what they had seen.

"Okay, so now we know… Can't say I'm disappointed," Beckett looked back to Castle, recalling their conversation outside the interrogation room earlier. He looked relieved as well.

"Should I go tell them they can go?" Ryan asked.

"Sure," Beckett nodded, half a second before Castle got a look in his eyes and stood up straighter.

"No," he cut in, and the other three looked at him. "I was just thinking, it might be a long shot, but we could use them to flush out the real killer."

As they waited for more news, the club was at least reunited with their missing girl, who was let out of interrogation. The others huddled around her, relieved.

"See, I told them you wouldn't kill anyone," Santana told her.

"I was a suspect?" Brittany asked, surprised.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Santana gave her a smile.

"Actually, it might." They looked back to find the detectives and Castle had returned. On instinct, Santana reached for Brittany's hand, like if she held on to her this time then they couldn't get her in trouble again. "We sincerely apologize for all this trouble today, and we were hoping you could help."

"How?" Quinn asked.

"The reason we brought you in is this," Beckett held up the evidence bag with the red fabric. "This was found tangled up with the victim, Marie Bennett, and it was identified as being part of Miss Pierce's costume," she explained.

"I got caught in a door," Brittany revealed to the others.

"We also caught an image of someone picking up the piece that was torn and left behind, so we have reason to believe it was placed with Miss Bennett in order to throw the scent off the killer and on to you," this she turned slightly toward Brittany more than the others, and the blonde blinked. "The longer this person is led to believe we still believe this, the better our odds are to catch them."

"So what do you want us to do?" Will asked.

"Go back to the hotel, act normal but make it clear to everyone that one of your members," Beckett indicated Brittany, "has been detained in relation to the murder…"

"Two," Rachel spoke up as the idea came to her.

"Sorry?" Beckett asked, and after a moment of hesitation, Rachel stepped up.

"If I may…" even from behind they could see she was behaving almost like she was addressing royalty of some kind. "Our club is in a position it's never been, that is, we have thirteen members."

"And that means…" Castle asked, so Rachel carried on.

"Show choir regulations state we need twelve members to be eligible. In our past competitions we've always had a certain problem hanging on to a twelfth member, but this time even if we lose one we're still set. So if you want us to draw attention to ourselves both subtly and obviously…"

"Then losing your eligibility would do it," Beckett finished for her, and she looked to the rest of them, to her team. "Any volunteers?" The club looked to one another. Brittany was the first to raise her hand.

"You're already out," Santana whispered to her.

"Oh, right," she put her hand back down.

"I'll do it," Puck spoke up, and the others looked at him. "I've already my juvie record, they could have held me for that," he shrugged. Beckett nodded in agreement before speaking again.

"The rest of you go back to the hotel, start putting in the word. No one can know the truth," she explained. "Miss Pierce and Mr. Puckerman will have to stay behind."

"Sleep in a cell?" Will spoke up, now not so sure. Castle looked to the two of them standing there, and though part of him felt he could be making a mistake, he stepped up.

"They can stay with me, if that's alright," he addressed both Beckett and Mr. Schuester. He got two agreements. Before he could confirm it though, he stepped up to be eye to eye with Puck. "I've got a daughter just about your age. I don't think I need to explain what will happen if you're not on your best behavior," he bowed his head.

"Best behavior, got it," Puck gave a nod.

So the rest of New Directions returned to the hotel, while Castle drove his two house guests back home. Beckett remained watching the board, which had grown somewhat, despite all the focus they'd been made to give to the clubs. Ryan and Esposito joined her there, standing on either side and observing the board as well.

"We could have told them who to look out for," Ryan pointed out.

"No… It's better if they don't know. They might say something that would tip them off otherwise," Beckett replied, though what she kept herself from saying was that this could also put them in danger. "Make sure everyone is in place, so we don't lose anyone," she finally said.

"It's done," Esposito confirmed.

Beyond the three clubs and their associated directors, this was what their investigation had turned up. They had three viable suspects. The call Marie Bennett had received, as Artie had rightly seen, had been from her brother, Zack, who was discovered to be not so much the kindly man he'd shown himself to be when they had met him. For all they knew this had nothing to do with his sister but at the moment they couldn't rule him out yet. Then there was the one she had replaced, Jodi Collins, who'd had to be not so willing to let her job go so easily, judging by the court orders that she wasn't allowed on the premises. Then there was Bradley Keith, the one the hyperventilating Mr. Matheson had replaced. He had evaded every one of their attempts to reach him, like a ghost, though many had claimed to see him hanging around the hotel. Of everyone they had come across, these were the three that stood out… Still Beckett couldn't shake the feeling they were missing something… and it was that feeling that made her start to wonder if they were making a mistake to put the kids from McKinley right in the middle of this.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	6. Scarlet Fever

_A/N: Last day tomorrow!_

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><p><strong>"Red Herring"<br>6. Scarlet Fever**

Beckett arrived at the hotel the next morning to find Castle already waiting for her, finishing up his coffee. "Morning," she greeted him. "How did your guests fare through the night?" she asked.

"Well, Brittany and Alexis got along right away; I think I heard something about pen pals. I could still hear them chatting up there after midnight. And young Noah behaved himself, as promised, spent the night on the couch. That is until my mother got her hands on him," he frowned, and before Beckett could get the wrong idea, he went on. "Found out he was a musician and this somehow turned into a concert before breakfast. Needless to say neither of them had a problem with those two hanging around until this is taken care of."

"Good, then," Beckett told him, the image of Martha still making her smirk to herself.

"I'm still waiting," he told her, as they went through the door.

"Waiting for what?"

"Oh, for you to slip and reveal some sordid past on the show choir circuit," he looked over at her, dramatically.

"Good luck with that," she shook her head, briefly catching a glimpse of his 'disappointment.'

As they made their way through the lobby, even without seeing too much, there was just enough of a sense like something was happening, something they had planted… New Directions were currently not eligible, and this meant the competition had changed. This meant a potentially bigger victory for some, or it meant a bigger headache for others… That wasn't what Beckett and Castle or the others were looking for though. They were looking for that one person who would not see a club in distress; they were looking for the one who would see that they were missing members because they were solid suspects on the murder that had happened.

"So are you going to say it or am I?" Beckett looked over when he spoke.

"Say what?" she asked.

"Something's not right about this. Somehow it's felt very 'open and shut' from the start, but even then it doesn't feel like we have the actual picture going. Like we weren't just thrown off about the kids, but…"

"All of it," she agreed. "Okay, so what are we missing?"

"Whatever happened, if you ask me, we're not wrong about it having to do with this… personnel shift… Ooh…" he suddenly blinked.

"What?"

"I don't know, maybe nothing but… What if it's not about the person who lost their job? What if it's about the person who wanted that job? All these posts vacated, and maybe they thought this was their chance, except they went for an outside hire. They went for Marie Bennett." Beckett listened to this, and as soon as he was done, she was reaching for her phone.

"Worth looking into," she agreed, dialling. "I need to speak to Mr. Matheson," she told the woman who picked up. Ten minutes later, they were in the man's 'office,' sitting across from him. "Mr. Matheson, were there a lot of applicants for Marie's job before she was hired?"

"Oh, sure. You know, you wouldn't think it, but it was a job in high demand," he nodded.

"Did anyone apply from within the organization? Someone who already worked here?" Castle asked.

"A few, yes," he nodded, thinking back. "Most of them would just be looking for a pay raise."

"Most of them?" Castle asked.

"Well, there was Charlotte. You'd think this was like the chance of a lifetime, the way she talks about it. You've spoken to her, she's my assistant," he indicated just outside the door where they could see her own desk, which like Matheson's was just a table, as they were temporary offices. Only there was no one sitting there. "She must have gone out on break. I keep telling her to just try the patch," Matheson shook his head to himself, but to Beckett and Castle it was something else. Without even saying it, they knew: if they'd spoken to her, then she'd know they were going to talk to Matheson. And if she wasn't there, then maybe there was a reason… And then Beckett's phone rang.

Ryan and Esposito had made it there on their own, before Beckett or Castle, and for the moment the only task that mattered was keeping an eye out, and making sure nothing happened to…

"Hey!" the shout drew their attention and they saw one of the boys from McKinley, identified by Esposito as Finn Hudson, running toward them. "This woman came, she's got Tina," he rambled on, and it didn't take much explanation for them to get what he meant by 'she's got Tina.' Esposito motioned for him to lead the way, and they ran after him as he dashed back to where they were. The nearer they got, the more they could hear voices growing louder. When they saw what they had to deal with, saw that their killer was indeed flushed out, Ryan reached for his phone and dialled up Beckett.

She arrived, with Castle and Matheson in tow, and she saw just what they'd seen: the teacher and ten of his students standing around helpless, just a few feet away from a cornered woman holding the girl they recognized as Tina Cohen-Chang from McKinley like a shield before herself and, judging both by the fact that the girl was not moving, and the way none of the others did either, some weapon pointed at her back. As still as the girl was trying to stay, they could tell she was terrified.

"Charlotte, what did you do?" Matheson spoke when he saw her. This drew the woman's attention immediately.

"Hey, boss," she threw him a look, not losing grip of her shield.

"Charlotte? I'm Detective Kate Beckett, from the NYPD. How about we talk, just you and me. Let the girl go," she took a couple of steps forward.

"Yeah, no, I'm not going to do that," Charlotte quickly decided.

"What about the dream job?" Castle spoke up, from behind Beckett, and she looked back to him. He hesitated before taking a step forward. "If you wanted it so much, then you wouldn't want to hurt any of these kids, would you?" She didn't respond, but he had struck a nerve… he was right.

"You killed Marie Bennett," Beckett not so much asked as she stated, and it seemed to work: no pretence. Charlotte looked around for a moment.

"I don't want him here," she declared, nodding to the back, where Matheson stood.

"Oh, I can go," he held up his hand before dashing off with all the relief of not having to stand around near her and whatever she had stuck to Tina's back.

"Okay, Charlotte. He's gone now. So can we talk?" Beckett asked. It took a moment for Charlotte to speak up, and on her face it read like she was waiting for something.

"I didn't kill Marie," she finally declared. She could see none of the detectives believed her. "I had to do this, he made me swear. Said he'd go after my family."

"Who did?" Beckett asked.

"So you did kill her?" Castle asked at the same time.

"I didn't kill her!" Charlotte insisted, then after a breath. "I just had to buy time so he could get away," she revealed, and it took all of five seconds for this information to be processed into an answer…. Matheson.

TO BE CONCLUDED (TOMORROW)


	7. Ruby Slippers

_A/N: Last chapter, and thus it is May 18th and I can say... HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIE & CHARLOTTE! *mwah* Love ya both! :)_

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><p><strong>"Red Herring"<br>7. Ruby Slippers**

Tina practically leapt into Mike's arms as he was hurrying up to her, the moment Ryan and Esposito's orders to let her go were finally accepted by Charlotte. The rest of the club closed up around Tina, too, forming almost a protective huddle. Meanwhile, the woman who'd held her captive was handcuffed and taken away. This was settled; now there was the other matter.

Beckett didn't have to stop and look; she knew Castle was right behind her as she ran down the halls of the hotel, seeking to catch up with Matheson. Eventually she did spot him, and he spotted her back. She would have pulled out her gun, to make sure he stopped, but they had reached the lobby again, and there were too many people. As much as she trusted her aim, she could miss, or he could take refuge behind someone… the risk wasn't worth it. The good thing was she knew something he didn't… the hotel was surrounded. With that in mind, she took the chance and charged toward him, the better to flush him out into the street... not very far, just far enough that the beat cops outside could get their hands on him. She gave the warning by radio, and when she and Castle got outside, they found Matheson, subdued and ready to be taken in. They approached him, taking their time now.

"Mr. Matheson," she stared down at him. "You're under arrest," she gave a satisfied nod.

The conspiring duo was taken down to the station. The assistant, the diversion, was quickly handled. She wasn't completely to blame in this situation, they supposed, but then they couldn't just let her go. Still, for her cooperation they could work some things out. The big fish, that was Matheson. The whole story wasn't too complicated, just as Castle had imagined it. He'd had to cut certain corners in his first year running that competition. He blamed it on his being new, on his not having some kind of network of contacts just yet. And Marie, she had her hands on enough things that she'd gone and found out. Not only did she intend to turn him in, but she had stepped in and undid some of what he'd done… At least, she'd tried, before he came to confront her. He tried to claim it, first as self-defence, and then as an accident, but the evidence from the autopsy, as provided by Lanie, couldn't lie, unlike him. It had been murder, plain and simple. How lucky was it for him that the hotel just happened to be filled with all these people he could pin this on? And even more lucky for him that he'd happened to witness the girl getting her dress stuck in the door, ripped… leaving a piece behind.

The case was closed, but there was still some business unfinished. And later that day, as they were filing away the elements of this case, taking down the board's contents, Ryan was the one to spot the group that had come off the elevator, again. They looked a lot more eased this time, of course… no longer under suspicion or confused. Brittany and Puck had departed the Castle home and rejoined the others, the better to participate in this visit.

"Hey, thanks again for what you did," Beckett told them, turning her attention to the girl who'd been held by Charlotte. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine," she gave a confident nod, though she could see she was still keeping a close grip on her boyfriend's hand.

"So what can we do for you?" Castle came up by Beckett's side. The others shared a look before Tina stepped up and held out an envelope. "What's this?" Castle asked.

"We would really like it if you came to see us at Nationals tonight," she explained. "So we got you tickets. If you can't, it's alright," she shook her head, but the detectives were already gathering around Castle, who had the envelope open.

"Hey, I'll be there," Esposito promised, taking his ticket. Ryan did the same, and so did Beckett.

"Count us in," she promised with a smile, and that got smiles out of all of them standing there.

"There's one for Alexis in there," Brittany informed them. "And Martha, too."

"We'll be more than happy to be your cheering section," Castle told her, bowing his head.

"We were also hoping you could give these to Marie's mother and brother," Will stepped up with another envelope. "They can see what she worked for, what made her happy," he explained.

"Done," Beckett promised, touched on the Bennetts' behalf.

"Well we should probably get back… We have to be ready," Rachel nodded, once again minded toward the competition. Probably thinking it was uncertain whether they'd get to see each other up-close again, a good long round of handshakes began, with the three detectives and Castle going about getting their hand shook left and right by the members of New Directions.

That night, when New Directions would take the stage, they would know somewhere in the sea of faces there was a woman and her son, both of them watching what their daughter and sister would have no doubt loved to see them see, for the renewal of happiness it had brought into her life. And there would be detectives of the 12th precinct, an author and his mother and daughter, all of them cheering enthusiastically for the seven girls, six boys, teacher and accompanist who, in the span of a day or two and by nothing more than circumstance, they had come to befriend.

THE END


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